Traditional Decorated Sugar Cookies Recipes

SUGAR COOKIES FOR DECORATING (AND EATING)

Steps:

• Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt in a medium bowl.
• Beat the butter and both sugars in another medium bowl with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 30 seconds. Add the eggs and vanilla mixing until fully incorporated. Slowly add the flour mixture, and continue beating just until the dough comes together, stopping and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed.
• Divide dough in half, pat into disks, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, at least 2 hours.
• Generously flour a clean work surface. (For a nice, even layer of flour, lightly sift flour over the work surface.) Gently roll chilled dough about 1/4-inch thick. Cut into desired shape using a cookie cutter, working quickly enough so dough remains chilled. If dough gets too soft, refrigerate on a lined baking sheet until firm again, about 30 minutes.
• Transfer cut cookies to un-greased baking sheets, leaving about 1-inch between cookies. Refrigerate the formed cookies for at least 30 minutes. Lightly dust off excess flour with a dry pastry brush. (Excess dough can be pressed into a disk, chilled and rerolled.)
• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Bake the cookies, until the bottoms are golden, about 12 to 15 minutes depending on shape. Cool on the baking sheets until firm enough to transfer to a rack to cool. Decorate as desired and serve. Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

THE BEST ROLLED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream together butter and sugar until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in the flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour (or overnight).
• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Roll out dough on floured surface 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick. Cut into shapes with any cookie cutter. Place cookies 1 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheets.
• Bake 6 to 8 minutes in preheated oven. Cool completely.

GRANDMA MINNIE'S OLD FASHIONED SUGAR COOKIES

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) .
• Over a large bowl, sift together all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, sugar. Cut in butter and blend with a pastry blender until mixture resembles cornmeal. Stir in lightly beaten egg, cream, and vanilla. Blend well. Dough may be chilled, if desired.
• On a floured surface, roll out dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Sprinkle with sugar; cut into desired shapes. Transfer to ungreased baking sheets.
• Bake for 6 to 8 minutes, or until delicately brown.

DECORATED SUGAR COOKIE CUTOUTS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs, egg yolks and extracts. Combine the flour, baking powder and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well. Divide dough in half. Shape each into a ball, then flatten into a disk. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour., On a lightly floured surface, roll one portion of dough to 1/4-in. thickness. Cut with a floured 2-1/2-in. cookie cutter. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Repeat., Bake at 350° for 13-16 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to wire racks to cool completely. , For icing, in a large bowl, combine the confectioners' sugar, water, meringue powder and corn syrup. If desired, add extract and tint with food coloring; beat on low speed just until combined. Beat on high for 4-5 minutes or until stiff peaks form. Keep unused icing covered at all times with a damp cloth. If necessary, beat again on high speed to restore texture. Frost cookies. Let stand until set. , To decorate cookies, place melted candy coating in small resealable plastic bags; cut a small hole in the corner of each bag. Decorate cookies as desired.